Coconut oil is extracted from "copra" meaning Kopra or dried coconut in Malayalam - a south Indian language. This oil is also known as coconut butter. It is primarily tropical oil, with multiple applications which was developed as a commercial product by South Asian merchants, in nineteen sixties. The trade of this oil was mainly done in South Seas.
Coconut oil has several benefits. It is one of a kind - which can not only be used on humans from head to toe, but also consumed orally. It is a great medium for cooking. This oil, when judiciously used promotes good health and beauty. Organic coconut oil is particularly good for health if used in prescribed and safe quantity. It is used in huge volumes for making cosmetics, margarine and soap. In non- dairy creamers and snack food the same is used in hydrogenated or partially- hydrogenated forms. For massages and essences fractionated coconut oil is normally used.
If you have had your teeth whitened by bleaching - either by your dentist or with home teeth-whitening kits - you may be able to keep them that way by eating certain foods.
Dentists at Wake Forest Baptist Health say that apples, green beans, cauliflower, carrots, celery and other firm fruits and vegetables can help keep teeth white. These common produce items actually "scrub" teeth while you’re chewing and also promote the flow of saliva, which neutralizes acids and protects enamel. The best polishing foods: strawberries and oranges.
Some dairy products (especially cheeses) and other foods high in calcium can also help keep teeth white. The lactic acid cheeses contain helps prevent decay, and harder cheeses also help remove food particles. If you want to keep your teeth pearly white, it’s a good idea to avoid or cut back on those exposures known to stain: blueberries, red and white wine, soy sauce, coffee, tea, soft drinks, and tobacco.
Creating a healthful, well-rounded meal from scratch for your dog requires an understanding of your pet's nutritional needs as well as a significant investment of time. Like humans, dogs are omnivores, meaning that they eat both animal and plant foods. If you want to cook for a dog, I urge you to talk to your vet or consult with a veterinary nutritionist about the individual needs of your companion animal and how those needs change with age. You'll also want to pay close attention to how much home-cooked food your dogs should eat in order for them to maintain a healthy weight. Follow the guidelines in this and tomorrow’s Daily Tips for information on foods that dogs can eat and those they should avoid.
Last Thursday's post covered four foods that are fine for dogs to eat. Today’s post is a more extensive list of foods; ones that dogs shouldn’t eat. Each of these can have harmful effects on a dog’s health, ranging from allergic reactions to vomiting, diarrhea or even death. Be on the safe side and restrict your dog’s access to these foods - he or she will thank you!
Polenta, or cornmeal, is made from dried corn kernels that have been ground into fine, medium and coarse textures. It is cooked to a thick and moist consistency and either served hot - right out of the cooking pot - or cooled in a baking pan and cut into triangles. Here it is cooked with cheese to give it added flavor. The simple act of roasting peppers for the puree spread gives them a sweet, smoky taste - just right for mild-tasting polenta.
Yesterday we discussed four unhealthy drinks that you should minimize or avoid. Today we cover four healthy beverages - experiment to find the best ways to incorporate them into your daily routine:
A new study from Northwestern University suggests that late-night snacks or eating when you should be asleep can pile on pounds. The researchers were investigating why shift workers who are on the job at irregular hours tend to be overweight. So they fed mice a high fat diet during normal mouse sleeping time and fed the same diet to a control group of mice during the hours when the animals are naturally awake. All the mice gained, but the ones fed when they should have been asleep increased their weight by 48 percent compared to the others whose weight went up only 20 percent. All the mice ate the same number of calories and performed equal amounts of exercise. This suggests that the timing of meals matters to weight control. Earlier research found that our circadian clock regulates energy use, which implies that when we eat may affect the balance between calories consumed and the number of calories burned daily. The study was published online Sept. 3, 2009 by the journal Obesity.
Who's counting? Researchers from the Mayo Clinic looked at smoking history and other risk factors for breast cancer in 1,225 women who developed the disease and more than 6,800 who did not.
They noted that earlier studies didn’t clearly define whether participating women were current or former smokers or had never smoked at all. For this study, the researchers defined "smokers" - current or former - as anyone who had cumulatively smoked more than 100 cigarettes at any time. They found that just over 10 percent of the women in their study were current smokers; almost 9 percent had quit smoking and 81 percent never smoked.
Those who had smoked more than 100 cigarettes proved at substantially increased risk for breast cancer; but the study also demonstrated that quitting reduces this risk. The researchers also found that women who had used birth control pills for 11 years or longer had a 200 percent increased risk of breast cancer, that those who took post-menopausal hormone replacement therapy had an increased risk of 81 percent and that women who had had hysterectomies had a reduced risk of 35 percent. The study was published in the September/October, 2009 issue of The Breast Journal.
Or peaches. Or nectarines. The investigators studied more than 100 varieties of these fruits and found their antioxidant and phytonutrient content to be as good as - or even better than - blueberries, which are an acknowledged great source of health protective antioxidants. Eating just one plum will give you the same amount of antioxidants you would get in a handful of blueberries scattered on your cereal, the researchers said.
They also looked at the effect of the protective compounds found in plums on breast cancer cells in the lab and reported that the phytonutrients in plums inhibited the growth of the malignant cells without compromising normal cell growth. All told, they suggested that in tough economic times, relatively inexpensive plums could be a better antioxidant bet than more costly berries. One caveat: because they fall about in the middle of pesticide load ranking by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), try to choose organic varieties of plums whenever possible. The study was funded by the Vegetable and Fruit Improvement Center at Texas A&M University and the California Tree Fruit Agreement.
